X/1999 Fan Fiction ❯ V: 1999 ❯ Prologue

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

V: 1999 | X\TB | Fiction |Contact Author |

Twins, nearly identical twins, the only telling difference being their gender, from a very old, powerful bloodline. King Nicolai frowned faintly at the crystal in his hand as it delivered this news to him. Sighing quietly he checked the date on the information and almost cursed. The information was nearly fifteen years old.

Of course if one considered the fact that the tribe the twins were from was nearly on the other side of the Veil, where hardly anyone but the other draconic tribes and fairer folk traveled, the news would be slow to make it to his attention. The Sumeai tribe wasn't one to broadcast their business anyway.

Still, twins meant trouble, especially if both woke to the draconic nature that ran strongly in that tribe. And two identical twins would be able to sync with each other perfectly and increase their power tenfold, enough to endanger him and his position. He couldn't let that danger remain unchecked, the twins had to be 'taken care of' soon if he were to deal with them before they awoke to their true natures.

Sitting the crystal down he called out towards the doorway. "Sethuma, I have need of you, please join me."

A tall slender figure slipped silently into the room, two massive pure white wings sweeping up from the ebony robed shoulders brushing against the doorframe, leaving small almost unnoticeable gouges in the wood. The angel paused in front of the king and bowed once before watching him silently with golden eyes veiled by ebony bangs.

"I have need of your services, Angel. There is a set of twins on Sumeai land I wish you to take care of for me. They could cause trouble if they are left alone."

"Yes, sire. And their souls?"

Nicolai paused before speaking, sending his senses out checking the room and the walls for any 'ears' that might hear his next words. Satisfied that he and Sethuma were alone he continued. "I want 'everything' taken care of, leave nothing to chance. They are too dangerous to be allowed escape."

The angel nodded once, stoic expression never changing despite the assassination orders. "As you wish, sire." The tall figure bowed once more before turning to leave the room.

Nicolai shivered slightly as the being left and thanked the gods he knew that he held its loyalty, he knew how powerful the angel was and those innocent seeming wings were sharp as the finest dagger as anyone with eyes could see due to the tattered state of the ebony robes the angel wore.

Hokuto walked through the grove of willows and sakura when she found him. A small devious little smirk curled her lips for a moment before she snuck up behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, laying her chin on one shoulder. "Hi, Shirou."

Two golden eyes glanced down at her amused. "Hello, Hokuto. Were you looking for me or Aisling?"

She released him and shrugged as she moved to sit beside him. "Either of you, actually. I was getting bored sitting at home and practicing what those overgrown bags of scales threw at me. So what were you doing?"

The golden eyes grew slightly troubled and flickered away from her to the small falcon sitting on the ground in front of both of them. "I just received some disturbing news. You and your twin are in very real danger."

She sighed. "We've been in danger before, I'm sure you can handle it. "

"As much as I am honored by your faith in my abilities, I'm afraid this danger is not one I can 'handle'. The King has sent his Angel after both of you."

Hokuto's eyes widened and she looked at him in disbelief. "What? Why? We haven't done anything to warrant such an action!"

"You were born, that's enough for him. He's afraid of both of you, because you are twins. He believes you will both wake to become draconic and turn on him."

"But you know that's not true, we knew soon after we were born and tested I didn't have what it took to-" he forestalled her statement with a hand.

"I know, but he doesn't." He paused and considered. "I could go see him and try to convince him to call off his angel, perhaps if he knew that you were not a danger to him, he would reconsider his order."

She nodded, standing up. "Sounds good."

"I want you and Aisling to hide while I'm gone though. I don't want to make my way there and work to get him to call off Sethuma, only to find that he's already destroyed both of you while I was making my way there."

She sighed and nodded again. "I understand, I'll find him and make sure we stay safe while your gone. After all, I can't let your soul mate die before you guys ever get together eh?"

Shirou shook his head amused before dismissing the bird and standing up as well. "We may be bound, but we won't be soul mates until he's wakened to his draconic nature, but it is another reason to go and get this straightened out, if we don't he may never get to wake completely." He stopped the line of thought that threatened to take and shook his head once to clear it before giving Hokuto a smile. "I'll be back soon, stay safe." She nodded and watched as he turned away from her to walk through the trees and disappear.

Shirou Zuka was walking up the road towards the palace when he saw the pale seer sitting off to the side of the road. Long pale blonde hair falling over cream covered shoulders and veiling amber brown eyes. The slender figure looked at him and then raised one slim hand from the folds of his robes to beckon him over. Sighing quietly once, he turned off the path towards the seer and paused a couple feet from him.

"You plan to visit the King, on the matter of the Sumeai twins, yes?"

"Correct. Have you seen something considering them?"

Kakyou nodded quietly. "Yes, if you continue with your current intent, they will perish together and you soon afterwards because of the bond you share with the draconic healer. I would suggest you turn back and return to them and find another way to escape Sethuma's notice. He does have weaknesses just like any other human-seeming being."

"I see. Thank you for your warning and advice, Seer." Zuka paused before beginning to turn away, a feeling that something was being missed nagging him briefly. He almost spoke again when the feeling fled; frowning faintly he shook his head and returned to the road to walk back the way he came.

Several months later Zuka still didn't know how he was going to keep the angel from killing the twins, it didn't matter where he hid them, Sethuma would continue to seek them out until he found them no matter how long it took the angel. The only place safe was the mortal realm, but that took power to cross and time. If he were to begin to construct a gate big enough to get all three of them across, he would be placing a target on himself and the twins for the Angel to find at the first moment he began the work. Getting two across was far easier in terms of time and power. One did not need a gate to cross over if the two crossing were bound together, however to get Hokuto across with them, he would have to gather power and begin a gate construction, which he seriously doubted he could do within the timeframe he was presented with.

Thus he was stuck on how to keep the twins safe if Sethuma ever did find them, he knew that if he faced the Angel in direct combat with the need to protect both twins, he would lose, Dragons were not powerful enough to take on the type of Angels that lived within the Veil. There was very little that could even stand up to such a being and not be killed instantly for the transgression. Sighing he closed his eyes and leaned against a willow trunk.

"Zuka."

He lifted his head to look up at Hokuto and sighed quietly. "Yes?"

"You haven't found anything have you?"

He shook his head. "No, every solution I think of trying falls flat once I actually consider how it would be carried out. It seems impossible-"

"To save us both?"

That surprised him slightly, causing his eyes to flicker back up to study her quietly before speaking again. "What do you mean by that? I won't sacrifice either of you to Sethuma, it would be cruel, and he wouldn't stop his hunting until he destroyed the other twin as well."

"There's only one way I've found so far that results success, but I need your help and cooperation."

"Whatever you need, if I can do it, just ask."

"Thank you. The only way to succeed in escaping him is to kill me and flee to the mortal realm."

He froze, staring at her, a rebuke and a denial both on his lips before he saw that she wasn't going to be swayed from her choice and as much as he hated to admit it, she was correct, there wasn't any way for him to save both twins. He let both die unspoken, a new question coming up, only to be silenced the same way when he realized the answer to it a moment after he thought of it. If he took her life, Sethuma wouldn't be able to get to her, and he could use her death to knock the Angel's senses off for long enough to get them through to the mortal realm and safety, as Sethuma would not be able to follow him due to his nature and loyalty to the King. Once Aisling was gone from the Veil, he would no longer be any danger to the King and most likely the winged assassin would consider him 'destroyed' and return to his king, giving up the hunt.

"It's the only way, Zuka."

He sighed and nodded wearily. "I know. Tomorrow. Bring Aisling with you when you come to the grove. I'll need him close by if I'm to escape with him before Sethuma feels the tear I'll be making in the Veil to cross through. He won't be fooled long, even with my ability to cast illusion."

Hokuto nodded quietly before moving to hug him once in comfort. "Don't worry about me, Shirou. It has to be this way, and I know I won't suffer if you do this. I want my brother to survive and I want him to grow up safe with you." She released him and stepped away, turning to leave.

"You foresaw your solution didn't you? You knew I wouldn't refuse you."

She paused quietly for a moment and then nodded quietly. "Yes, I finally found my talent it seems. I was to have been a seer, like Kakyou.. we've been talking for the last couple weeks. He is a good teacher. I saw the answer last night."

He watched as she left him alone with the willows and sighed quietly. "Forgive me, Aisling-mine. There's no other way." He followed Hokuto out of the grove of trees.

The following morning, Zuka watched both of them approach quietly. He saw Hokuto nod once as they walked towards him, releasing her twin's hand and stepping just far enough away for him to close a protective barrier around him to halt him in his tracks. The surprised hurt confusion he both felt and saw wounded him and he hesitated briefly as Hokuto closed the distance between them.

"You can't back out now. This is the only way you can save us, at least at your hands my soul will not be destroyed. Both of you can take heart in that."

He nodded quietly, desperately ignoring the frantic distress coming from Aisling within the kekkai. Closing his eyes, he allowed the change to take place and slowly opened solid dark pink eyes to look down at her. He watched as she turned to look sadly towards her twin. He realized the reason a second later when he felt the bond between him and Aisling open wider than it had been before, pouring out grief-stricken emotion along with his beloved's plea. /Please, there must be another way Zuka. /

He brushed the edge of one eye with a pink streaked ebony talon, knocking away the tears building around his eyes. His own anguish poured through the link as he returned his answer. /There isn't. I barely have the power to save you, Aisling-love. Forgive me / He lowered the taloned hand to grasp one of Hokuto's shoulder gently and struck quickly, the other hand going through the fragile chest and destroying the heart within it.

She fell forwards against him as he withdrew his hand, trying to keep his concentration despite the pain he was feeling from Aisling, it was the scream that shattered it moments later allowing the barrier he had wrapped around the young man to fall. Zuka shifted back into human form quickly and moved towards Aisling, picking him up and cradling him against his chest.

Moving quickly he began the necessary work to begin the crossing. He had succeeded in making the tear and was about to cross when something massive and white blocked his path. Freezing in place, he held Aisling tighter against his chest as he looked over at the angel, the only color on him being his golden eyes. "Sethuma." He said quietly in acknowledgement. The angel inclined his head slightly at the sound of his name, ebony bangs falling to veil the golden eyes briefly for a moment.

"Shirou Zuka. I would ask where you were taking Aisling Ragi, but I believe I already know."

"Then you should have no problem, letting me go there. He can't harm your King now, and he poses no threat while in the mortal realm."

Sethuma shook his head and folded the extended wing absently as he spoke. "Can't, I have orders to destroy him, and since you've already taken out the sister, I must at least destroy the male twin."

Zuka held the small form in his arms tightly against him as he readied himself to escape through the slowly healing tear in front of him. "Over my dead body, will you touch *my* Aisling." He growled and turned to jump through the tear. A flash of white flew through his side vision, a blinding fury of pain exploding through his skull as he fell through the rip in the Veil to land in a grove of trees in the mortal realm, bleeding but still alive.

Gently laying the small form down on the ground, he gingerly reached up with one hand to wipe the blood from his face and winced sharply as his fingers touched the injury the angel had succeeded in dealing to him. Drained as he was, and lacking any link to his base of power within the Veil at the moment, he would be forced to seek out human aid to take care of it.

First he and Aisling needed aliases to hide behind before he could venture anywhere beyond this sheltering clearing surrounded by sakura on all sides. Their soft white blooms gently waving silently in the slow breeze. Shock, blood loss coupled with sudden unexpected magical backlash suddenly caused the world to dim and finally fall away, leaving him to collapse soundlessly next to Aisling.

Zuka woke to the feel of something warm and wet moving slowly over his face. Wincing faintly as it touched the wound around his left eye. He felt the thing lift away and then footsteps leaving and several minutes later returning to halt beside where he lay. A female voice spoke then, sounding calm and icy in demeanor. "You might as well acknowledge me, Seishirou-san, you are much older than I saw you last but you haven't changed all that much."

Frowning faintly, he opened his right eye to look at the speaker and was about to deny being this person she spoke of when the idea struck him. He had been looking for a way to create an alias, and now the woman had given him one. He then realized he didn't know what happened to Aisling since he had passed out beside him. It was possible the woman had brought both of them to wherever they were now; the only way to find out would be to ask though. "The young man that was with me, where is he?"

The question earned him a glare as the woman moved away from him again, picking a roll of bandages up from a chair before turning back towards him, her voice sharp as Sethuma's wings. "The Sumeragi was taken by the 12th head back to their estate. Why you were with him is something I was wanting to know, as they are our enemies, despite your attempts at denying it."

"Subaru?"

Aisling opened his eyes, blinking a couple times before his vision focused on the face above him. It belonged to the matron of the Sumeai tribe. Someone must have brought him home. It took a moment for the consequences of that to sink in and he sat up quickly to look around him. Two facts immediately made themselves known. One, he wasn't home like he had thought. Two, Zuka was nowhere to be seen. He turned to look at the woman watching him quietly. "The one I was with, where is he?" he asked her while trying to hold back the fear, grief and nervousness he was feeling.

The old woman sighed and sat down in the chair beside the bed before speaking. "The Sakurazukamori has him now. So it appears all your work was for naught, as she'll not allow him to escape her again. You shouldn't of broken off contact with us. If you had still been in contact with us, we could of possibly have prevented her retrieval of her heir."

Aisling frowned faintly as he listened to her and shivered faintly when the import of the only thing in her words that made any sense to him struck. Zuka was gone; he was alone here. Exiled in this realm alone and with no idea how to survive in it.

"Subaru?"

He looked back at the woman and realized that she was addressing him when she spoke the name. He was about to deny being this 'Subaru' when the thought hit him. If he told her he wasn't this person she thought he was, she'd demand to know who he was and he couldn't tell her his true name as names held power in this realm. If he stayed here as this 'Subaru' he could have a new life, he wouldn't have to be alone and perhaps, if fate decided to be kind for once, he could find Zuka again. "I don't remember anything you speak of, Matron." He said quietly, hoping she took his words to think he had suffered amnesia and explain who he was supposed to be. She frowned sharply and studied him for several moments before nodding once.

"I see. Very well, we will begin again. Perhaps during your training you will recover your memory. You are Sumeragi Subaru, 13th head of the Sumeragi Clan." She stood up and studied him quietly again before turning to leave. "Rest. We will begin your training again tomorrow."

A sleek golden form ran through the tall waving grasses, dashing out of them, it barely stopped in time to avoid falling into the rushing creek below the bank it balanced on. The water rose up towards the golden furred form, for a moment distracting the fox kit from the growing sound of the growls and yips of his pursuers. Gae mentally cursed the water for a moment, since indirectly it was the cause for his current situation, then as the chance for escape presented itself to him, he blessed it and began to pick his way down the bank only to lose his footing halfway down and fall into the water with a splash he was sure everything within miles of him heard. Well there was no time to worry about it now he decided as he fought his way up to the top of the water and began swimming down the creek slowly, still heading towards the edge of the realm.

Over a couple miles later he shivered silently as cold and fatigue began to attempt to drag him down. Moving towards a relatively low bank, he pulled himself up out of the water and shook the it from his fur before climbing the bank and freezing moments later as he saw the shadow looming up over him. Looking up, he cringed back from the large triple tailed fox that stood in front of him. Ominous golden eyes looked down at him with barely concealed contempt, and he cowered back as far as the bank would allow without dropping him back into the water below. "You didn't honestly think you could escape judgment did you Kit Gae? As long as you remain in this realm and in that form, we will find you."

Another form came up to settle beside the elder kitsune and glare balefully down at the soaked kit cowering in front of it. "The others have decided on exile, milord." The new fox said quietly still giving Gae a dark glare.

Gae watched the elder nod once in acknowledgement and move towards him. A startled yelp escaping him as he felt himself picked up off the ground by the scuff of his neck. Shivering faintly he watched the ground begin to move beneath his dangling feet. Closing his eyes to the sight, he whined faintly in distress as he realized what the older kitsune was planning on doing with him.

The lack of motion brought him awake and he blinked once at the moving wall of color in front of him. A moment later he was dropped to the ground and he realized the wall was actually a waterfall. Streams of sparkling water lifted lazily from the pool in response to his presence and he heard the elder kitsune snort faintly in disgust at the display.

"I figured this gateway would suit you since you seem to have an affinity for water. You are to shift human and cross over and remain where you arrive. You are not to shift back to this form you currently wear and you are by no means allowed to use your nature to help you get along in that place. We will know if you reveal yourself and I will not be pleased if I have to come across and show you the error of your ways."

Gae gave the elder a horrified look before looking back at the pool. This was what he had been heading for when he had started out. A gateway out of the realm, to safety he had thought. He studied the pool quietly before moving towards its edge and looking down at the water silently. What could prevent him from escaping as he was? Spirits lifted faintly from this thought, he gave one last look at the other kitsune before leaping into the water and swimming for the waterfall. He heard shouting behind him as he reached the sheet of falling water and passed through it, feeling the gate open up around him allowing him through to the other side. He surged through it but fell against hard ground as magic caught hold of him, forcing his form to shift from fox to human before dropping him to lie gasping on the hard ground beneath him, blonde hair falling across his face in a golden veil over amber eyes.

Searching for an identity was easier done than he had worried it would be. He silently thanked whatever gods were responsible for causing the fallen man he took the clothes and identification from to be in the alley he had been hiding in. He slipped out of the alley, the off-white coat whispering around his lithe frame as he walked quickly down the street, taking the cards from the wallet to see what name he would go by now and possibly any hint of what the man had done with his time before meeting up with him in the alley. Several receipts fluttered to the ground as he flipped through the cards, he paused to pick them up and go through them before dropping them again to return his attention to the cards. Finally towards the bottom of the wallet he found what he was looking for and returned the other cards to the various pockets he had take them from as he read the information on the card. Kigai Yuuto. A faint smile curved his lips as he returned the card to the wallet and the wallet to a pocket inside the coat. Subaru was moving through the park silently in thought when he heard the soft-spoken voice. It sounded familiar, turning to follow it he paused at the edge of the clearing it led to when he saw the two figures standing in front of the massive sakura in the center of the clearing. The woman was speaking now, her voice quiet as she spoke to the tall figure standing beside her. He couldn't hear what was being said for the wind and the rustle of branches around him. He frowned faintly and was about to turn away when the tall man turned to fully face the woman and revealing his features.

Zuka. Emerald eyes widened faintly as he felt the bond between them confirm what he was seeing. He stared helplessly as he watched the woman lift a hand to lightly caress one of the older man's cheeks, still speaking quietly to him. The hand lowered, falling to her side as she finished whatever she had been saying. Zuka looked down at her and he noticed for the first time the small scar around his right eye and the fact that it was a startling off-white compared to the other honey brown eye. He felt a flash of guilt as he realized how the injury must of come about, but he didn't have long to mull the thought as he saw Zuka rest a hand on the woman's shoulder in a way that reminded him painfully of the last time he had seen his twin.

His eyes widened again, his chest constricting as he watched the scene that haunted his thoughts replayed in front of him. The woman's ebony hair fanning out away from her shoulders as she fell once Zuka had removed his hand. The body fell to the ground and moments later turned into a brief flurry of sakura petals that faded away as they settled over the bloody ground. He made a distressed sound as he watched the older man turn to notice his presence. The good honey brown eye filled with several fleeting emotions as Subaru moved towards Zuka.

"Aisling."

He nodded quietly in acknowledgement before speaking quietly. "Zuka." He watched the other shake his head quietly and frowned in confusion. "What is wrong?" he asked quietly.

"We can't go back to the way we were. We both carry new names now, and the histories that come with them. It would be best if we forgot the past since it can only bring grief."

He felt the building of magic and gave Zuka a stricken look as the darkness began to rush in at him. "No.." he whispered before collapsing to the ground passed out due to the spell that closed around both figures like a vise, blocking memories and constructing false ones to take the place of the missing ones.

Several hours later, the 12th head of the Sumeragi once more found him lying within the clearing and took him home, frowning at the markings now faintly shimmering over the backs of the young man's hands.

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